Big head bark owl
| Big head bark owl | ||||||||||||
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Great-headed bark owl ( Acronicta megacephala ) |
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| Acronicta (Subacronicta) megacephala | ||||||||||||
| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
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The large-headed bark owl ( Acronicta megacephala ), formerly also known as the floodplain owl, is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 38 to 45 millimeters. The fore wings vary in the basic color from light gray to dark gray to black gray and are dusted black. The root line is narrow, the tornal line is only less dark than the border area. The inner cross line is light gray and drawn twice, the outer cross line is black, jagged and drawn simply. Between the kidney flaw and the outer transverse line there is a light gray round spot. There is no middle shadow developed, and the hemline is hardly marked. The ring blemish is relatively large, round or somewhat oval to elliptical. The kidney flaw is also large and outlined in black, but indistinctly limited to the outer edge. The fringes are gray with numerous internural lines. Completely darkened specimens occur and are not rare. The hind wings are whitish in the basic color with dark veins. A center line is occasionally formed, but always weak or dissolved into a row of dots. The hemline is indicated by a row of dots, the fringes are white. The underside of the forewing is dark gray, the underside of the hind wings light gray. On the underside of both wings, the center line and the discal patch are visible. The head and thorax are different shades of gray.
The egg is flattened-cone-shaped. The surface has weak, slightly wavy longitudinal ribs. It is light green in color with crimson spots, spots and stripes.
The caterpillar grows up to 35 millimeters long and varies greatly in color from yellowish to various brown tones to reddish. She wears gray or brown tufts of hair all over her body. The head is strikingly large and striped in black. There is a large light yellow spot on the 10th segment.
The doll is red-brown and has a bristle cremaster .
Geographical distribution and habitat
The big head bark owl is found all over Europe. The only exceptions are smaller areas in southern Spain, in the coastal areas of western Scandinavia, northern Scandinavia and northernmost Russia (up to about the Arctic Circle ), some Mediterranean islands ( Balearic Islands , Sardinia ), the southern part of Greece (here, however, there is an isolated population in the Peloponnese ). Further occurrences are: Northwest Africa, Asia Minor , the Caucasus region , Syria and Iran as well as the European part of Kazakhstan and the Altai .
The animals occur in deciduous forests, alluvial forests and forest fringes with scrubland, but also in parklands and settlements with avenues planted with poplars.
Way of life
The large head bark owl forms one generation in the northern part of the distribution area and two generations in the south, which mostly overlap. In Central Europe the moths fly from around late April / early May to late August / early September. It has not yet been completely clarified whether two generations or only a single, protracted generation will be formed in Central Europe. The moths are nocturnal, come to artificial light sources and to the bait . The eggs are usually laid individually on the leaves of the host plants, rarely in loose groups of a few eggs. The caterpillars can be found from June to October. They feed primarily on the leaves of different types of poplar ( Populus ), such as aspen ( Populus tremula ), black poplar ( Populus nigra ) and pyramid poplar ( Populus nigra "Italica"). Also willow ( Salix ), alder ( Alnus ), birch ( Betula ) and oak ( Quercus ) are mentioned as larval food plants. The caterpillars pupate in a firm cocoon under loose pieces of bark of the food trees, where they are often found at a height between 30 centimeters and 3 meters above the ground. The pupae overwinter.
Danger
The large head bark owl is not endangered in Germany .
Systematics
Acronicta megacephala is the type species of the subgenus Acronicta (Subacronicta) Kozhanchikov, 1950. This subgenus was also viewed as an independent genus by some authors. Fibiger et al. (2009) justify the downgrading to the subgenus with the note that the species shares some apomorphic characteristics with the genus Acronicta and that this would make Acronicta paraphyletic.
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Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Red Lists of the German Federal States
- ↑ a b Fibiger et al. (2009: p. 56/7)
- ^ A b Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
- ↑ Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 252.
- ^ Hermann H. Hacker and Jan: Noctuidae from the European part of Kazakhstan with first records of seven species for the European fauna. Esperiana, book series on entomology, 8: 811-824, Schwanfeld 2001 PDF ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ PDF (Russian)
- ↑ Ebert et al. (1997: pp. 31 to 35)
- ^ Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
- ↑ Subacronicta megacephala in Fauna Europaea
literature
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 6. Moth IV (Noctuidae 2nd part). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 .
- Michael Fibiger, László Ronkay, Axel Steiner & Alberto Zilli: Noctuidae Europaeae Volume 11 Pantheinae, Dilobinae, Acronictinae, Eustrotiinae, Nolinae, Bagisarinae, Acontiinae, Metoponiinae, Heliothinae and Bryophilinae. 504 pp., Entomological Press, Sorø 2009 ISBN 978-87-89430-14-0
